Hello to you intrepid reader, I would like to thank a guest who warned me about the wrong use of the word Guru, he indeed informed me that in the Asian culture the word guru means master and teacher. So I proceeded to the necessary change, so that I added a new discussion between these two. And before proceeding to the other thanks, I would like to say to this guest if you read these lines thank you for having informed him because indeed in the western culture to have a guru is very, very, very (and I do not exaggerate on the very) pejorative. To explain simply, having a guru means (for us) having a 'master', but above all being a prisoner of this 'master'. He abuses in general people in prey to psychological weakness (death of a close person or for people who seek a meaning to their life), speaking to them with vice and deceit, abusing their time ('voluntary' enslavement) and their money (taking all their savings for his personal enrichment) and I do not even speak about the sect. So yes, a guru for us westerners is very pejorative.
And before I forget while checking some old chapter, I noticed that part of the author's notes of chapter 8 was written... in French. So I don't know by what kind of witchcraft this could have happened (I guess it was my google chrome that rebelled and translated automatically with that google translation crap) I then proceeded to the necessary change, fortunately it had only affected my notes and not the chapter. Hopefully it won't happen again (What will be the next language German? Spanish? take a guess!)
A hello to the new ones, that I forgot to greet last week, but it's better late than never Blondlime15, nx8shadowclaw, robrose921 who follow this story.
My usual and sincere thanks to Echoes
On this, good reading.
The bridge had been repaired in record time, the words of the tigress still echoed in my mind. I never imagined that these animals were so much like humans. How could one not be amazed by such a spectacle? Habit and weariness were one of the possible answers, but how could one be weary of seeing this? A question I would gladly explore.
We had been on our way to the famous jade palace for a while now, the monkey was leading the way, the mantis was on my left and the viper on my right. As for the tigress, she was as usual in front of me, glancing at me regularly and constantly.
The journey had gone smoothly, at least for the moment. I had not seen this stranger again, and I had not felt this kind of call that had been offered to me. What exactly had happened to me? I was obsessed with it! Was it the creature that had done it? By what means? I could literally hear him in my head! And if he had really spoken to me, the monkey would most likely have heard him. In this case, he had not seen or heard anything. I simply did not understand how such a thing could be possible.
My feet walked independently, I was too focused on my train of thought to observe my surroundings. Questions came and went in a split second, but one question kept coming up. Should I tell them?
Such a stupid and unintelligent question, though. They already thought I was some kind of demon, and now I was hearing voices and seeing unknown creatures. What are the chances they would believe me? No, it was far too risky. I'll have to figure it out and analyze it myself, after all, wasn't I a scientist?
Regaining control of my body, I continued to follow my escort. I didn't realize it, but one of my guards had disappeared. The wading bird was gone, and I didn't remember seeing it when I had returned to camp before. I assumed he was back at his palace to report to Shifu, again someone with a real name. Did he mean something like Tai Lung? I racked my brain, remembering my Chinese classes I had taken in college. Shīfu... Master? I understood what it meant. Shifu simply meant master. I smiled inwardly, noticing that when the tigress was saying master Shifu. She was actually saying master master. A redundancy of her title that only confirmed that there was more than an aspect of servitude as the tigress had very amiably reminded me, she was a kung fu master. Kung fu... Was this a joke, a funny joke? Or was it strictly true? It answered the fact that they were great fighters. And I had the impression that they were acting as a kind of police, or rather a security militia. I would have to make a good impression on their master, if he also acted as a judge, then he would decide my future.
With the storm now gone, the sky had slowly but surely cleared of all clouds, now leaving the sky totally bare of a beautiful blue. The air was soft and the warmth of the sun was gently warming the earth. Continuing on our way, we crossed the edge of the fields. Fortunately, this time, I didn't notice any farmers or farmworkers going about their business. Being seen as a freak was extremely unpleasant, having a bunch of accusing and suspicious looks fall on you, made me a little anxious. I suddenly realized that if they were leading me to a palace, then there would be a city, no doubt about it. I stopped dead in my tracks, the others looked at me with surprise. I noticed that the tigress in front of me looked away from me. If I could define her facial experience, I would say that she was slightly annoyed.
"Problem?" She asked me, while turning back to me.
"I... yes actually" She crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for some explanation from me. Being afraid of being treated by the villagers like a beast, like a naked monkey as the mantis said. Wasn't that a stupid feeling? Did they care? Probably not, and I couldn't back down now. If I told her that it was nothing, that it was just an idea that had crossed my mind. They would be even more suspicious of me, wouldn't they? And if I told her the truth, wouldn't she laugh at me? Turning my gaze to her, I looked her straight in the eye.
"I'm just afraid of how the villagers will react to seeing me. But I doubt you would consider that important." Her body relaxed, and her arms came off her torso to return to her body profile.
"Are you afraid he'll treat you like a monster?" The word was out...monster. I was sure they already considered me one. After all, wouldn't that be the reason they treated me with such distrust? I nodded my head in response, expecting nothing more from her than words full of contempt. She placed one of her hands on her chin and her eyes went to the right, getting lost in a mysterious thought cycle. After a brief moment of silence, she removed her hand from her face and focused on me.
"I understand, we'll see about finding a solution when the time comes." Her words took me by surprise. She had taken my feelings into consideration, I didn't understand... Why? Why do this for me? Was she trying to be more friendly? I would be surprised if she was trying to be more friendly, given her rather suspicious looks. I would see in time if she would respect her words.
She resumed walking, forcing me to pick up and continue following her. Walking mechanically, I carefully observed the surroundings in a desperate quest to find some semblance of entertainment to let my thoughts and mind escape what could potentially happen to me. Letting my eyes wander around the scenery, I noticed huge pillars of rock and greenery rising up to the sky. Trees were even growing on the extremely steep cliff faces. These trees literally defied gravity, and must have been in a constant struggle not to succumb to this invisible enemy. I wondered how high above sea level I was, to have such a mountainous configuration. Perhaps at one thousand, even one thousand five hundred meters of altitude. I remembered the mountain I was on, on my first day here, and how huge it was. Was it one of the Himalayan mountains? I knew that China was a big country with many valleys and mountains. But of such a big country, only the Himalayan Mountains came into my memory. After all, I was not a professional of the geography of China, or even of my own country for that matter. The pace suddenly slowed down, and the tigress stopped short, being totally absorbed in my thoughts I did not pay attention. My eyes, realizing that something had happened, focused on her. All my thoughts stopped the moment I looked at her. I immediately ordered my body to stop moving forward, narrowly avoiding running straight into the tigress. She crossed her arms over her chest, keeping her usual closed and cold attitude.
"We are approaching the village, I thought about what you said, and I had an idea, but I doubt you will like it." I raised an eyebrow, both surprised that she remembered what I had told her, but also by the fact that I didn't like it. With slight apprehension, I asked.
"Go on ?" She put her bag on the ground and pulled out some kind of long cloth. It must have been one of the canvas from the tent, recognizable by the earth color. She unfurled it in front of me, I just couldn't get what she was getting at. Did she want to carry me in it like a sack of potatoes? If so, I would unquestionably refuse.
"If you don't mind, I'll cover your face so no one will see it." So that was his idea. Wouldn't wrapping my head like gift wrap draw more attention to me? After all, did I have a better idea? I thought about it for an indefinite period of time and couldn't think of an alternative. It looks like I'll have to settle for getting my head wrapped around it. I nodded my head in agreement.
She walked over to me and began to place the cloth around the bottom of my face. It began to cover part of my mouth and gradually went up to the top of my head. I had never been so close to her, her face was only a few inches away from me. But it was especially her paws, which did not stop brushing me and close to my eyes. Her presence intimidated me, I didn't dare to breathe or ask her to loosen anything. Hoping that she would not suffocate me halfway with her tent cloth. The fabric finally passed in front of my eyes, blocking all my vision and plunging me now in the darkness. I flinched from the discomfort of my unexpected blindness. Had she been planning this all along? How would I walk now? Would they hold my hand like a child? The idea was humiliating, pure and simple. I felt the various tangles of fabric tightening toward the back of my head. Believing she was done, I relaxed my shoulders, releasing all the tension I had built up.
Suddenly, two claws made me lie. They went through one of the strips of fabric and opened a small opening. The light from outside dazzled me for a moment, but then my vision returned to normal and focused on the first thing in front of me, the tigress. She stepped back and looked me up and down.
"About the clothes, I couldn't do anything, just try to be pretty much natural, and you shouldn't draw too much attention to yourself." She warned me. It was a shame the bird was gone, I would have loved to borrow her hat to hide more. And regarding keeping a low profile, I could only agree with her. I didn't want to make any waves, or cause any trouble just by my mere presence.
"Don't worry, I'll be good, I promise." I answered her with a voice slightly muffled and distorted by the cloth plastered over my mouth. She turned around and we went on our way.
It did not take long indeed to arrive, on a road no longer made of rough earth, but of carefully cut stone. I was surprised by such a change, it was so sudden to feel her feet hitting something much harder. Footsteps sounded in the air, almost like horses' hooves. I noticed the mantis' gaze fixed on my 'face'.
"I don't think this is such a good idea," he crossed his... arms together and continued his train of thought, "I am much more apprehensive about you now, than I was before." At this point I could hear a hint of irony in his voice, and although I shared some of his reservations, I had no other solution in mind. The only solution that I could think of, but which was somewhat extreme, was to confine the population during my stay, which was a very bad idea. The population would ask too many questions and be even more suspicious of me, treating me like a dangerous monster. So threatening and fearsome that an entire population would have to be confined in order to transfer him. I shrugged my shoulders in resignation.
"I'll settle for this," I showed him my cloth mask with one of my thumbs, "It's a good compromise for me." Refocusing my attention straight ahead, I noticed stone houses appearing in the distance. We were approaching the village, it was totally different from the one I had seen in the mountains. The houses still had that same Asian architectural characteristic, but most of the buildings were usually made of stone or some kind of smooth concrete. The other notable difference was the famous stone road, which had become much denser and better. I noticed, on the sides, a thin border sinking a few inches into the ground. On further observation, I noticed water slowly sliding down it. I understood that it was in fact a gutter. A primitive gutter because of the lack of a sewer, but effective nevertheless. I was somewhat surprised by their level of knowledge in terms of hygiene, they are more advanced than I had thought. This village must have had a certain wealth and prosperity, because of its stone buildings and its road, both of which must have cost a fortune to build. But also by all the technical and technological knowledge that was implemented, who was the architect? I will ask them when it is finished, I am particularly curious to study their method and see if it differs so much from human engineering. The excitement of discovering new things overcame my fear of meeting the locals. As we approached the first buildings and curious looks were cast our way, there were many villagers doing their thing. Some were trading selling all sorts of trinkets, others were buying for various prices. A sweet smell of different spices and foods filled the air. We were probably passing through the market area. I would have liked to at least pass through a more discreet place, rather than in the center of the city. But I assumed this was the only place that led to their palace.
At least I could have had a general view of the city, so I reassured myself.
People moved out of the way, some waving and waving with visible joy on their faces. There were all sorts of species and breeds, pigs, sheep, goats and I even saw a few wolves and crocodiles. All lived together and most certainly in harmony. I realized that the tigress had told me the truth, predators and prey lived together without fighting or worse. It was unique to my world to have predators, and to compare my world to this one was stupid and a beginner's mistake. Many villagers continued to wave and bow to our group, this 'police' must have been quite popular with the people, this reassured me in part. A population that liked and respected its security forces usually meant that they did not act harshly and brutally. Their cheerful gaze quickly turned to me, and as I became aware that I was a prisoner, their smiles faded and were replaced by doubts and concern. Refocusing my gaze, I noticed that the tigress was always on the move, never letting herself be distracted by anything, unlike the others who were chatting and greeting their various interlocutors.
We left the market and continued straight ahead. The cacophonous atmosphere of the market was now replaced by a quieter one, I could hear children's laughter echoing in the distance. My eyes looked around, admiring the architecture of some of the buildings which were huge, but still quite bland when I thought about it. The light gray walls and their charcoal gray roofs did not enhance their architectural complexity.
We continued to move forward and entered a third part of the city, this time the buildings had their walls painted in a deep red, the edges of the roofs were painted in white creating a nice contrast between the bright red walls and the gray roof. My forced 'walk' had made me lie about my previous thoughts. However, I concluded that we were surely passing through the rich part of the city, given the rather small size of the neighborhood compared to the others. There were far fewer civilians in the streets, although some were waving at us from the top of some windows.
We finally had arrived in front of a huge staircase that rose to a considerable height, was this where the palace was located? I looked with admiration at the colossal size of this building. A paw landed on my shoulder and I saw that it was the mantis that had landed on me.
"If you don't mind, I'm going to stay here while you climb the stairs to the thousand steps." My vision darkened, had he really said a thousand? I turned my eyes back to the building, how long will it take me to climb it to the top? The tigress continued to trace her path, I tried to catch up with her, to ask if this was the only way. I doubted that he had invented the elevator, so having to climb this thing was going to be a real ordeal. But I changed my mind, stopping right behind her as she began to climb the stairs.
My breath was heavy and uneven, I was choking half to death from the lack of oxygen in my lungs. Making such a physical effort when I was hanging out in my lab all day was not the best idea. Anyway, I had no choice, and I didn't believe that any of them would have carried me up there.
I stopped for a moment and admired the view, but I had to admit that the height gave a remarkable view of the landscape. I had a view on the village below, it was not as big as I thought but being used to see big megalopolis, I considered it as respectable and in view of the number of houses present, I supposed that the village had to count approximately at most three hundred inhabitants or a little more if there were houses behind the mountain. We approached a wall and a large red wooden door. The tigress came to the door, put her hand on the circular handle and knocked twice in a rapid manner. A sound of metal hit the air and disappeared after a light breeze. It wasn't long before the lock on the door unlocked and slowly opened inward into a sort of Chinese garden. We went through the door and the animal who had opened the door came in front of us. He was a dark gray goose, wearing a traditional mustard yellow robe.
"Master Tigress, a pleasure to see you back safe and sound."I realized with surprise what the goose had just said. Was she a master too? I thought she told me she was a student here?
He bowed to the group, before straightening up to face me, "There's the prisoner?" The usual concern was noticeable in the air. He squinted and tried to see through my improvised mask. I shook my shoulders in discomfort, the viper slid in front of me and intervened before the discomfort became more disturbing.
"Yes, and we need to go see master Shifu, if you don't mind Zeng."
"Yes of course master viper, come follow me." He moved, the group and I followed him. She was a master too, a master of what? Of Kung Fu, I concluded stupidly. We had crossed a part of the garden before arriving in front of what seemed to be the backyard of the palace. I saw three people in front of me, they were talking to each other. I already knew the one on the left as it was none other than the wading bird, Crane I thought. The one on the right was a huge panda, a slight smile formed on my face, I tried to guess his name and I logically concluded that he must be called panda. The third individual in the center was much smaller than all the others. I doubted for a moment of its race, I thought at first it was a kind of red raccoon, but I deduced that it was impossible for that to be the case, since I was in China. We had come close enough to attract their attention, I immediately noticed the three glances falling on me. Mostly the panda's, which was not surprisingly full of concern, was it impatience? Admiration? But before anyone could say anything, he threw himself at us.
"Whoooaaaa! Is it really him? That's the famous scarlet demon, and you captured him?" I raised an eyebrow, surprised by so much...enthusiasm. He came up to me and looked at me without any fear in his green eyes.
"Why are you wearing a mask?" But before I could answer, he stepped back and pointed at me
"Oh, but that's because you're actually a creature of the night that burns in the daylight." He said to me while doing a poor imitation of I don't know what creature. I tried to justify myself once again, but he continued his rant, which looked more and more like fanboyism.
"What power do you have?" Then he quickly placed a finger in the air, "No don't tell me, I'll guess..." And he began to think, before a voice that was filled with authority broke those thoughts.
"That's enough Po! Give him some space." My gaze went to the origin of the voice, which was none other than that of... Shifu? Did I assume, he moved towards me, limping on one of his legs. Looking me up and down with great attention, he then ran his hand through his long, thin beard, smoothing and flattening it against the palm of his hand.
"What's your name?" His voice was not authoritative or abrasive, but full of concern and interest. I scratched my throat lightly.
"My name is Julian Cooper, sir." I bowed in respect to him, as I stood up I could see the look on the tigress' face full of surprise and questioning.
"Juulyyane?" A hidden smile broke out under my mask, I thought no one would ever be able to pronounce my name, "A very exotic name, isn't it?" He was starting to dig into my past, I had to be convincing to keep them from figuring out that I was lying to them.
"I come from afar indeed." Pointing in a somewhat hazardous direction, "From beyond the ocean. I've already told..." I turned to the monkey and bowed my head slightly, "Master Monkey, I presume." He nodded, confirming that I had been right. A surprised look crept across Shifu's face, before he resumed the calm and Stoic look he possessed.
"That answers why you have such a strange accent. Or did you learn our language?" These questions were getting more and more pointed and dangerous.
"I learned it in school." Staying evasive and simple was a good fallback for me. I secretly hoped he would stop asking questions, but I knew I was in for an interrogation. I just hoped he wasn't planning to do it now. I was starting to get hotter and hotter under my mask, the stress and the fact that I was breathing with difficulty wasn't helping, and it would eventually become unbearable, "If you don't mind, I'll need to take the mask off. I'm dying of heat down there." He nodded, raising my hands to my mask. I quickly removed it, now showing myself to Shifu, the panda, and Zeng if I had remembered his name correctly. The panda's eyes lit up even more than before, and I saw him literally stomping on the spot. As for Shifu, he seemed to be lost, he was deep in thought. A finger approached my face almost touching me, it was none other than the panda who approached his index finger with curiosity.
"Po, I already told you to stop!" Again he was taken back by Shifu which confirmed to me that it was indeed him. The prying index finger withdrew with a slight gasp of annoyance from the panda. Shifu turned around and started to leave.
"We will take you to your quarters and question you tomorrow." The tigress' body tensed, she stood before Shifu with determination.
"Master, it is still early. We can interrogate him now." She pleaded. I breathed inwardly, this tigress is going to be extremely complicated to convince that I was not a danger.
"No, he is injured, I prefer to let him rest." I almost heard a sound of dissatisfaction from the tigress, which was quickly met by Shifu's dark look. He had then turned to the goose "Zeng lead him to his temporary quarters. "
The goose bowed to Shifu and handed me one of its wings, inviting me to follow. I moved and began my walk. Leaving the group of five others, or should I say the five kung fu masters, for the first time in two days. My gaze shifted to mantis, suddenly realizing that he was no longer on me, when had he left my shoulder? It was a good question anyway, I was surprised by his ability to be so stealthy. I didn't even bother to look at the tigress because I knew she would greet me with her usual cold look. We were going along a corridor, the walls were in fact a kind of rigid paper and I could see that sliding doors were present. Zeng had suddenly stopped and presented me with the right wall with his wing.
"Here is your room, you are confined here until Master Shifu, Po or one of the five come to get you." Having finished, he slid the door open, giving me access to my new 'room', I moved inside and began to observe the details. An extremely quick analysis given that the room only had one bed. I took a closer look at the bed, hoping that it wasn't just a simple wooden board. I sat on it and tested its suppleness by bouncing slightly on it. It was still hard, but it was more bearable than a simple board. I turned my gaze to the goose, who was still watching me with curiosity. Realizing that I was looking at him, he stepped back and spoke a few words that I didn't understand the meaning of.
"My apologies for my indiscretion. I won't bother you any longer, Juuilyaane." He slid the door to the right, closing it completely. I breathed a sigh of relief, I was finally alone and would be able to rest before undergoing this famous interrogation. In which I was sure to find the tigress, who would be happy to push me into my hiding place so that I would tell them the truth. I had to prepare myself! I spent the rest of the day anticipating possible questions and planning their answers.
A new chapter finished, we continue next week. I hesitate to change my point of view or to continue with Julian. You'll see, and as always your comments and remarks are precious, and I pay a lot of attention to them, I know I need to improve my writing style so don't be afraid I'll take a criticism badly. Thank you all for your support and see you next week for new adventures always further, always higher and always stronger. This is Noxymilien end of transmission.